neglect

American  

[ni-glekt] / nɪˈglɛkt /

verb (used with object)

• neglects,
  present (3rd person singular)
• neglected,
  past participle,  past
• neglecting
  present participle

1. to pay no attention or too little attention to; disregard or slight.

   The public neglected his genius for many years.

   Synonyms:

   ignore

2. to be remiss in the care or treatment of.

   to neglect one's family; to neglect one's appearance.

3. to omit, through indifference or carelessness.

   to neglect to reply to an invitation.

4. to fail to carry out or perform (orders, duties, etc.).

   to neglect the household chores.

5. to fail to take or use.

   to neglect no precaution.

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noun

1. an act or instance of neglecting; disregard; negligence.

   The neglect of the property was shameful.

   Synonyms:

   heedlessness, inattention, default

   Antonyms:

   care, attention

2. the fact or state of being neglected.

   a beauty marred by neglect.

   Synonyms:

   heedlessness, inattention, default

neglect British  

/ nɪˈɡlɛkt /

verb

1. to fail to give due care, attention, or time to

   to neglect a child

2. to fail (to do something) through thoughtlessness or carelessness

   he neglected to tell her

3. to ignore or disregard

   she neglected his frantic signals

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noun

1. lack of due care or attention; negligence

   the child starved through neglect

2. the act or an instance of neglecting or the state of being neglected

Usage

What does neglect mean? Neglect means to fail to pay enough attention to someone or something or to not do enough to properly care for someone or something. In terms of things, neglect usually means that you haven’t maintained them properly. To neglect your car is to fail to make sure it gets the maintenance it needs to keep running properly. To neglect your health is to fail to do anything to maintain it. To neglect your duties is to disregard them, often due to being preoccupied with other things. When it’s used in the context of people, neglect implies a lack of attention and care. When you neglect a friend or romantic partner, it means you don’t spend enough time with them or you fail to consider or care about their emotional needs. However, the word neglect is often associated with even more serious situations. When the word is used in relation to the care of children, it means to fail to properly care for them in a way that’s equivalent to mistreatment or abuse. This is sometimes called negligence (which is a synonym of neglect and is based on the same root). As a verb, neglect can also mean to fail to do something, such as through indifference, thoughtlessness, or carelessness. This sense of the verb is typically followed by another verb (in its infinitive form), as in I neglected to check a single box on the form and now I have to start over. Neglect is also commonly used as a noun meaning the act or an instance of neglecting, as in These children are victims of neglect, or the state of being neglected, as in The house was in a state of neglect. The adjective neglectful can be used to describe a person who neglects or their actions. The word neglected can also be used as an adjective, as in neglected children. Example: After years of neglect, these pets are being adopted into loving homes.

Synonym Usage

See slight. Neglect, dereliction, negligence, remissness imply carelessness, failure, or some important omission in the performance of one's duty, a task, etc. Neglect and negligence are occasionally interchangeable, but neglect commonly refers to an instance, negligence to the habit or trait, of failing to attend to or perform what is expected or required: gross neglect of duty; negligence in handling traffic problems. Dereliction implies culpable or reprehensible neglect or failure in the performance of duty: dereliction in a position of responsibility. Remissness implies the omission or the careless or indifferent performance of a duty: remissness in filing a report on the accident.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• neglectedness
  noun
• neglecter
  noun
• neglector
  noun
• overneglect
  verb (used with object)
• preneglect
  verb (used with object)
• quasi-neglected
  adjective
• self-neglect
  adjective
• self-neglecting
  adjective
• unneglected
  adjective
• neglectedly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• neglecting
  present
• neglected
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• neglect
  simple
• neglects
  simple
• have neglected
  perfect
• has neglected
  perfect
• am neglecting
  progressive
• are neglecting
  progressive
• is neglecting
  progressive
• have been neglecting
  perfect progressive
• has been neglecting
  perfect progressive

Past

• neglected
  simple
• had neglected
  perfect
• was neglecting
  progressive
• were neglecting
  progressive
• had been neglecting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will neglect
  simple
• will have neglected
  perfect
• will be neglecting
  progressive
• will have been neglecting
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of neglect

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin neglēctus, variant of neclēctus (past participle of neglegere, neclegere “to disregard, ignore, slight”), equivalent to nec “not” + leg-, base of legere “to pick up” + -tus past participle suffix

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Explanation

Neglect is worse than ignoring something. It's ignoring it, failing to care for it, and probably harming it in the process. The word neglect comes from the Latin verb neglegere, which means "disregarded." You can neglect to do your chores, meaning fail to do them, but this word is usually reserved for cases when you willingly refuse to care for something appropriately. Child neglect is what parents get charged with when they fail to provide for their child's basic needs. If you go on vacation and neglect your plants, they may wither and die due to your lack of attention.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

neglect neglects neglected neglecting

Alysha said it is "shameful that people are being paid so much money. There's a lot of people who are vulnerable and in need. I'm going to class it as neglect."

From BBC ● Oct. 19, 2026

Graffiti has been washed from the Frank Putnam Flint fountain, but it remains a broken-down monument to neglect, as it has for most of the past 60 years.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

“The system is operating in this state of malign neglect and carelessness that has a real impact on people’s financial lives,” she said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026

Though Pilates is a full-body workout, she added, it often focuses on glutes and legs, which many men neglect in their gym workouts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026

“I cannot comprehend the neglect of a family library in such days as these.”

From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen

The novel is so doctrinaire about its pessimism that it mostly neglects the characters’ music.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026

To opponents of the forthcoming regulation, including many still inside the Social Security Administration, Warshawsky and Vought’s conception of the modern economy neglects the fact that workers like Tincher grew up in a different world.

From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2025

The recent sharp selloff in Zions Bancorp’s stock already more than captures any credit risk associated with loan losses, but it neglects the overall quality of the bank’s financials, an analyst said Thursday.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2025

Humor is his life raft because he neglects to plot much of a course around the seas of memory.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2025

The definition neglects to mention the maps, the ones that delineate the return trip to normal or the site of the sunken treasure.

From "Burning Blue" by Paul Griffin

She’s running as a candidate with working-class roots, focused on the farmers and rural communities she argues both political parties have neglected.

From Salon ● Oct. 13, 2026

Successive governments neglected Israel's geographic periphery, focusing overwhelmingly on security issues, he said.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

As a longtime renter herself, Raj has experience with being a neglected tenant.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 6, 2026

From Greater Manchester to north London, organisations and volunteers are transforming former industrial land and neglected parks into habitats for wildlife and places for people to enjoy.

From BBC ● Sep. 28, 2026

It either went underground, becoming esoteric or occult, or it was mislaid and would eventually turn up after centuries of lying neglected in some monastery library.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

I spent fruitless hours testing my employer’s patience, neglecting my more immediate work while dredging up zero-retweet Twitter posts from the early 2010s.

From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026

“What if you considered this other perspective?” most of them ask, neglecting to realize that most people won’t be inclined to think harder unless they’re presented with more than a suggestion.

From Salon ● Jun. 15, 2026

On Tuesday, Israel's state comptroller released a scathing report accusing successive governments of neglecting domestic weapons production and failing to maintain critical raw material reserves.

From Barron's ● May 16, 2026

While some say video is boosting podcasts’ appeal and making shows easier to discover on social media, others can’t help but feel that their beloved medium is neglecting them as it caters to another audience.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 17, 2026

So instead we have made progress by finding partial theories that describe a limited range of happenings and by neglecting other effects or approximating them by certain numbers.

From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking

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